The History Behind Main Street's Most Iconic Buildings

Bob's Club is the oldest building on Historic Main Street still standing in its original location. According to the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1876 and originally housed the Elk Grove Hotel, which operated continuously for more than 50 years.

This was one of only two buildings to make it through both the 1892 and 1922 fires. Shortly after, with rooms upstairs still being rented, the first floor is believed to have been a speakeasy during the Prohibition. In 1930, it became Idzinga's Cafe, and in 1950 it was sold to Bob Parker, who gave it the name locals have used ever since.

Today's Brick House Restaurant was known as the Ehrhardt Rhoads building, which opened in 1880 as a private residence. It didn't stay quiet for long. By the early 1900s it was transformed into a Ford Model-T showroom, providing a place for some of the first automobiles in the area to be enjoyed on Main Street.

From the mid to late 1900s, it served as a food locker, the community's shared cold storage before home freezers were common. You'd stop in to pick up what your family needed for the week, the same way you might swing by for dinner now.

Just south of today's Old Town Plaza sit two historic brick buildings, one of them now home to local favorite Dust Bowl Brewing Co. In 1888, the building operated as a winery owned by Portuguese immigrants, processing several thousand tons of grapes every year. It would later operate as the Gibson Winery. The adjacent building went up in 1903 and was run by a local hops grower who was also a partner of Elk Grove's general merchandise store.

Grapes, then hops, now craft beer. Some traditions on Railroad Street never fade.

The Schauer family, the same name behind Schauer Park, owned one of the original businesses at 8924 Elk Grove Boulevard. In 1974, this building was the Parkway Drive-In, serving burgers and soft serve to generations of Elk Grove residents. For nearly two decades, it was the kind of place where you ran into everyone you knew, up until it closed in 1993 and later became La Fiesta Altena Taqueria.

The building still does what it has always done best: feed the neighborhood. The menu has changed, but the crowd and spirit remain the same.

In 1885, Charles Hasman purchased the land and built the Hasman Building, using brick made locally at a ranch off Grant Line Road. Today, it's home to Prost Beer Hall, a lively restaurant featuring German staples alongside rotating drafts and handcrafted cocktails.

Hasman ran a harness shop until 1901, when he converted the space into a general merchandise store, which changed hands several times over the years. By the 1940s, the second-floor rooms were rented as residences and an insurance and notary business, while an office and later a saddle maker occupied the ground floor until 1945.

Since then, the building has welcomed a long line of restaurants, with the upper floor used for offices and storage. Look for the locally made brick that has been holding up this corner for 140 years.

Five buildings, one walkable stretch of Historic Main Street, and roughly 150 years between the oldest and the newest chapter. Pick a starting point, work your way down Elk Grove Boulevard, and finish on Railroad Street. Lunch, dinner, and a pint are all covered along the way.